Hillsborough Teacher Creates Epic Guinea Pig Museum: Video

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — This is something that will be sure to bring a smile to your face amid the coronavirus. Hillsborough Elementary School second grade teacher Teresa Mistretta created a miniature guinea pig museum for her students. Yes, a guinea pig museum. Bring on the cuteness. (Watch the video below)

Mistretta was inspired after she saw a couple in London make a similar museum for their gerbils. Mistretta does not have any gerbils but she does have a two-year-old guinea pig named Maisie whom she adopted from the Franklin Township Animal Shelter.

While being quarantined at home Mistretta decided this was the perfect opportunity to create this fun museum for Maisie and for her students to enjoy.

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"I needed a project to keep me occupied because I've been feeling a lot of stress lately. This project was perfect for that!" Mistretta said. "I took art history in high school and have always been kind of an art nerd. I chose paintings that would be recognizable to people, and that were easy to manipulate to a guinea pig subject. Most of this project was to entertain myself. I laughed a lot while creating it!"

She began crafting the artwork on April 12 and had finished it by April 14.

Using famous works of art as inspiration Mistretta sketched them out in a smaller scale, changing the people to guinea pigs, used colored pencil to color the paintings, and then measured and cut cardboard frames for each "painting."

"I painted the frames with gold acrylic paint, created placards for the title and artist, and hung them in my hallway with tape. I wanted to recreate the feeling of being at a museum like the MET [Metropolitan Museum of Art]. When I think about my own trips to the MET, I think about the old building, creaky wood floors, high ceilings, and heavy gold frames around the paintings. That's what I was trying to capture in my museum," Mistretta said.

Since releasing the photos and video of her museum Mistretta has received a lot of positive feedback from colleagues, students, and strangers.

"I'm so glad I was able to make something that brightens someone's day!" Mistretta said. "We are living through a difficult time right now, and I'm happy that I'm able to help others experience some joy."

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